Page 518 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

Born in 1978, Bosnian musician Damir Imamović comes from a famous family of Sarajevan
musicians. He grew up surrounded by sevdah, bittersweet traditional songs which became
synonymous with Yugoslavian culture during the Tito era. Imamović studied philosophy instead
of music, becoming interested in sevdah during the Siege of Sarajevo (“I endured it all by playing
my guitar and reading a lot…”) and subsequently cataloguing and editing the songs performed by
his grandfather Zaim, a legendary sevdah singer. Inspired by The World and All That it Holds, a
historical novel by Aleksandar Hemon, this album contains a tantalising mixture of traditional and
newly composed sevdah songs. Beautifully performed and arranged, they sent me straight to
YouTube in search of more. The opener, Imamović’s “Sinoć”, is a dark but catchy meditation on
the loss of a friendship, Imamović’s affecting and expressive voice, followed by an offbeat
number recounting a Bosnian epic hero’s improbable but erotic dalliance with a fairy.

Veteran producer Joe Boyd’s preference for recording live in a studio gives the performances a
thrilling punch and immediacy, Imamović’s vocals supported by a superb backing band.
Imamović describes his “Osmane” as “both a love cry and a funeral march,”, and “Madre miya, si
mi muero” is sung in Ladino, a Judaeo-Spanish language once commonly spoken in Sarajevo.
Especially poignant is the closing number, “Koliko je sirom svijeta”, famously performed by Zaim
Imamović, a heart-breaking song about emigration and remembering those left behind. It’s all
superb. Do buy the CD instead of downloading, and enjoy perusing the 48-page illustrated
booklet which contains texts and translations along with essays by Imamović, Hemon and Boyd.

This recording satisfies a craving that you didn't know you
had